There are a number of instances when it is desirable or necessary to monitor the concentration of an analyte, such as glucose, lactate, or oxygen, for example, in a fluid of a body, such as a body of an animal. The animal may be a mammal, such as a human, by way of example. For example, it may be desirable to monitor the level of various analytes in bodily fluid, such as blood, that may have detrimental effects on a body.
In a particular example, it may be desirable to monitor high or low levels of glucose in blood that may be detrimental to a human. In a healthy human, the concentration of glucose in the blood is maintained between about 0.8 and about 1.2 mg/mL by a variety of hormones, such as insulin and glucagons, for example. If the blood glucose level is raised above its normal level, hyperglycemia develops and attendant symptoms may result. If the blood glucose concentration falls below its normal level, hypoglycemia develops and attendant symptoms, such as neurological and other symptoms, may result. Both hyperglycemia and hypoglycemia may result in death if untreated. Maintaining blood glucose at an appropriate concentration is thus a desirable or necessary part of treating a person who is physiologically unable to do so unaided, such as a person who is afflicted with diabetes mellitus.
Certain compounds may be administered to increase or decrease the concentration of blood glucose in a body. By way of example, insulin can be administered to a person in a variety of ways, such as through injection, for example, to decrease that person's blood glucose concentration. Further by way of example, glucose may be administered to a person in a variety of ways, such as directly, through injection or administration of an intravenous solution, for example, or indirectly, through ingestion of certain foods or drinks, for example, to increase that person's blood glucose level.
Regardless of the type of adjustment used, it is typically desirable or necessary to determine a person's blood glucose concentration before making an appropriate adjustment. Typically, blood glucose concentration is monitored by a person or sometimes by a physician using an in vitro test that requires a blood sample that is relatively large in volume, such as three microliters (μL) or more. The person may obtain the blood sample by withdrawing blood from a blood source in his or her body, such as a vein, using a needle and syringe, for example, or by lancing a portion of his or her skin, using a lancing device, for example, to make blood available external to the skin, to obtain the necessary sample volume for in vitro testing. (See U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/424,414 of Saikley et al. filed on Nov. 6, 2002; and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2004/0138588 A1 of Saikley et al. filed on Nov. 4, 2003.) The person may then apply the fresh blood sample to a test strip, whereupon suitable detection methods, such as calorimetric, electrochemical, or photometric detection methods, for example, may be used to determine the person's actual blood glucose level. The foregoing procedure provides a blood glucose concentration for a particular or discrete point in time, and thus, must be repeated periodically, in order to monitor blood glucose over a longer period.
Since the tissue of the fingertip is highly perfused with blood vessels, a “finger stick” is generally performed to extract an adequate volume of blood for in vitro glucose testing. By way of example, a finger stick may involve lancing the fingertip and “milking” the adjacent tissue, such that an adequate volume of blood is available on the fingertip surface. Unfortunately, the fingertip is also densely supplied with pain receptors, which can lead to significant discomfort during the blood extraction process. Thus, conventional extraction procedures are generally inconvenient and often painful for the individual, particularly when frequent samples are required.
A less painful method for obtaining a blood sample for in vitro testing involves lancing an area of the body having a lower nerve ending density than the fingertip, such as the hand, the arm, or the thigh, for example. Such areas are typically less supplied, or not heavily supplied, with near-surface capillary vessels, and thus, blood. For example, a total blood flow of 33±10 mL/100 gm-min at 20° C. has been reported for fingertips, while a much lower total blood flow of 6 to 9 mL/100 gm-min has been reported for forearm, leg, and abdominal skin. (See: Johnson, Peripheral Circulation, John Wiley & Sons, p. 198 (1978).) As such, lancing the body in these regions typically produces sub-microliter samples of blood that are not sufficient for most in vitro blood glucose-monitoring systems.
Glucose-monitoring systems that allow for sample extraction from sites other than the finger and that can operate using small samples of blood, have been developed. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,120,676 to Heller et al. describes devices that permit generally accurate electrochemical analysis of an analyte, such as glucose, in a small sample volume of blood. Typically, less than about one μL of sample is required for the proper operation of these devices, which enables glucose testing through “arm sticks” rather than finger sticks. Additionally, commercial products for measuring glucose levels in blood that is extracted from sites other than the finger have been introduced, such as the FreeStyle® blood glucose-monitoring system (Abbott Diabetes Care Inc., formerly known as TheraSense, Inc., Alameda, Calif.) that is based on the above-referenced U.S. Pat. No. 6,120,676.
However, differences between the circulatory physiology of finger sites and “off-finger” sites have led to differences in the measurements of blood glucose levels associated with those different sites, as reported in McGarraugh et al., Glucose Measurements Using Blood Extracted from the Forearm and the Finger, Abbott Diabetes Care Inc., formerly known as TheraSense, Inc., Alameda, Calif. (2001), and McGarraugh et al., Physiological Influences on Off-Finger Glucose Testing, Diabetes Technology & Therapeutics, Vol. 3, No. 3, pp. 367-376 (2001). The former study indicates that stimulating blood flow at the skin surface of the arm may reduce these differences in certain circumstances when the off-finger site is the arm. In the latter study, the differences between blood glucose measurements using capillary blood from the finger and those using capillary blood from the arm were attributed to a time lag in the glucose response on the arm with respect to the glucose response on the finger that was observed when the glucose concentration was changing. This time lag varied from subject-to-subject in a range of five to twenty minutes. The study found that when glucose concentration is decreasing rapidly into a state of hypoglycemia, this time lag could delay the detection of hypoglycemia. Thus, it was determined that relative to the arm, the finger was a preferable test site for testing for hypoglycemia.
It follows that while it may be desirable to move away from the finger as a site for obtaining blood samples for discrete or periodic in vitro blood glucose determinations, in view of the pain involved, for example, it has not heretofore been deemed practical to do so to effectively monitor for low blood glucose levels that may be detrimental to an individual.
In addition to the discrete or periodic, in vitro, blood glucose-monitoring systems described above, at least partially implantable, or in vivo, blood glucose-monitoring systems, which are designed to provide continuous in vivo measurement of an individual's blood glucose concentration, have been described. (See, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,248,067 to Causey et al.; 6,212,416 to Ward et al.; 6,175,752 to Say et al.; 6,119,028 to Schulman et al.; 6,091,979 to Pfeiffer et al.; 6,049,727 to Crothall et al.; and 5,791,344 to Schulman et al.; and International Publication No. WO 00/78992.) Although optical means or devices may be employed to monitor glucose concentration, a number of these in vivo systems are based on “enzyme electrode” technology, whereby an enzymatic reaction involving glucose oxidase is combined with an electrochemical sensor for the determination of an individual's blood glucose level. By way of example, the electrochemical sensor may be inserted into a blood source, such as a vein or other blood vessel, for example, such that the sensor is in continuous contact with blood and can effectively monitor blood glucose levels. Further by way of example, the electrochemical sensor may be placed in substantially continuous contact with bodily fluid other than blood, such as dermal or subcutaneous fluid, for example, for effective monitoring of glucose levels in such bodily fluid. Relative to discrete or periodic monitoring, continuous monitoring is generally more desirable in that it may provide a more comprehensive assessment of glucose levels and more useful information, such as predictive trend information, for example. Subcutaneous continuous glucose monitoring is also desirable for a number of reasons, one being that continuous glucose monitoring in subcutaneous bodily fluid is typically less invasive than continuous glucose monitoring in blood.
While continuous glucose monitoring is desirable, there are several drawbacks associated with the manufacture and calibration of continuous glucose-monitoring devices. By way of example, based on current manufacturing techniques, it may be impossible to account for sensor-to-sensor or subject-to-subject variability in performing accurate factory calibration. Further by way of example, individual-specific calibration may be desirable or required to account for subject-to-subject variability, such as subject-to-subject physiological variability. If an individual-specific calibration is called for, a sample of the individual's blood may be required in order to calibrate a glucose monitor for that individual's use.
Further development of calibration methods, as well as analyte-monitoring devices, systems, or kits employing the same, is desirable.